Bar 44 Tapas y Copas: This Is Our Spain

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Now is the time to 'roll up our sleeves and fight' says the Br 44 founder Owen Morgan (Image: Owen Morgan) Or in the case of Owen Morgan, one third of the brains behind Bar 44, you can include shedding around a quarter of your body weight in that equation too. Williamston, Haroldston West (1841) / Williamston, Haroldston West (1851) / St Madoc Church , Haroldston West (1853)

Hill mountain, Burton (1861) / Hill Mountain, Burton (1871) / Newport, MON (1881) / Newport MON (1883)

FMD: Tell us about some of those places which inspired you in your restaurants and in the book, then. You devote space in the book to your time at Güeyu Mar and Bodega El Capricho: these are both remarkable places to eat, but they use the most basic of equipment. What did you learn there? We have various companies in the UK which would send us samples- we must have tried around 50 types of Asturian blue cheese in the last year alone- but to go there with the guy who makes it is so special…

St Twynnells (1841) / St Petrox (1851) / Monkton (1861) / Monkton (1871) / Monkton (1881) / Monkton (1891) / Monkton (1901) Llanllawer (1799) / Llanychaer PEM (1841) / Fishguard PEM (1851) / Pembrey CMN (1871) / Llanllawer (1880) We haven't put 20 years of our blood, sweat and tears into this - to let it go now," he said at the time with a heavy heart. "We have so much more to do, with goals and aspirations undampened. We need to be here on the other side. The Royal Winged Son of Stonehenge and Avebury (reprint of Kimmerian Revalationsed.). Cardiff: Glarmorgan Free Press. 1900. Even so, there were moments when they questioned whether they'd bitten off more than they could chew. In those days, there were only one or two Spanish restaurants in London and Bar 44 faced an uphill struggle.

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Neyland (1841) / Church Lakes, Llanstadwell (1851) / Parryville, Llanstadwell (1861) / Church Lakes, Llanstadwell (1870) / Portsmouth, Hants (1874) / Gillingham, Kent (1881/1891) Bar 44 is a true family affair, with Owen fronting up the food and drink, his brother Tom is in charge of marketing and business development and sister Natalie oversees the 130 strong-staff as operations director. Philip 1637 (Steynton) / Alice 1638 (Steynton) / Margaret 1645 (Steynton) / Catherine 1647 (Steynton) Born into a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Morgan came to think of his family’s beliefs as destructive. At the age of 18, he was disfellowshipped for smoking a cigarette and shunned by most of his relatives and friends. He continued to believe in the religion till he was 22 before changing course.

Their new book Tapas y Copas : This Is Our Spain is their love letter to the country which has inspired their work for 20 years, and we thought the occasion was significant enough to warrant a long, freewheeling chat. It takes in everything from their inspirations to their hopes, their memories and challenges they’ve faced, shared memories of remarkable places to eat and much more.

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James 1807 (Carew) / Jane 1808 (Carew) / Martha 1810 (Jeffreyston) / Thomas 1811 (Jeffreyston) / Hannah 1813 (Jeffreyston) Owen: It’s not about fads or fashions…we’ve tried cecina made with A5 wagyu, at well over a hundred pounds a kilo, and entry level ones with next to no marbling. But when you find amazing native breed mountain-reared beef which has that lovely marbling and also such craftsmanship behind it…